1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a sealing valve, and more particularly to a vacuum pump valve which is capable of effectively sealing a particular container in a vacuum manner.
2. Description of Related Arts
Vacuum pumps have widely been utilized to extract air from a food container, such as a plastic bag, so as to create a vacuum environment within the container for preserving the food for a prolonged period of time. The basic steps for sealing a container is pretty simple: first, a vacuum pump is inserted into the container via a vacuum opening; second, a user may turn on the vacuum pump for extracting air within the container, third, the vacuum pump is detached from the container, finally, the vacuum opening should be effective sealed to prevent air going in or out of the container via the vacuum opening.
As a matter of conventional practice, the latter step represents the most important factor in determining the final outcome of the vacuum sealing process. No matter how efficient and effective the vacuum pump is, when the vacuuming process is finished, it has to be detached from the container and the vacuum opening must be effectively sealed in order to prevent re-entering the container again. As a result, if there was substantial re-entering of air, the container would be filled with considerable amount of air which eventually contaminates micro-organisms and bacteria within the container sufficient to deteriorate the food contained in the container.
Conventional vacuum valve for sealing this vacuum opening is generally unsatisfactory in that leakage frequently occurs between the container and its exterior so that air can pass through the vacuum opening and deteriorates the food in the container, which is originally supposed to be preserved for a prolonged period of time.
Conventionally on the other hand, the above-mentioned vacuum pump may be utilized for sealing plastic bags as well as certain specifically designed rigid container. Very often, different kinds of containers utilize different kinds of sealing valves. For example, a sealing valve for sealing a plastic bag may not be suitable to employ in a rigid container so that another different kind of sealing valve is needed. This inevitably increases the manufacturing cost of the sealing valve as well as the respective container as a whole.
Apart from all these, it must also be appreciate that very often, the presence of sealing valve may affect the operation of the vacuum pump and effective creation of vacuum environment within the container. For example, when a plastic bag is being vacuumed and collapsing, a boundary between the sealing valve and the plastic bag may not be fittedly aligned so that a significant amount of air is trapped at the boundary.